SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's tennis finished its regular season with a 7-0 loss to No. 10 Pepperdine on Saturday as the Broncos fate for a berth in the West Coast Conference tournament now hinges on the outcome of the Pacific - San Diego match on Sunday.
A loss by Pacific will put the Broncos (8-12, 3-6 WCC) in the tournament, finishing in a sixth place tie with San Diego in the conference standings with the Broncos owning the head-to-head tiebreaker. A Pacific win eliminates the Broncos chances of qualifying for the conference tournament.
The Waves (20-2, 9-0 WCC) who entered the week ranked 10th in the nation finished its regular season undefeated in conference play, sweeping eight of the nine matches.
Pepperdine showcased its lineup consisting of five singles players ranked in the top 88 and three doubles teams ranked in the top 90, winning all its matches in straight sets.
In doubles play, the No. 8 team in the nation of Luisa Stefani and Mayar Sherif defeated the Broncos freshman duo of
Elvena Gevargiz and
Katya Tabachnik 6-2 on court one. The Waves clinched the doubles point by the same score with Adrijana Lekaj and Laura Gulbe downing
Zeina El Tawil and
Delaney Nothaft.
In singles play, the two schools elected to play out all its matches. Lekaj beat
Giannina Ong 6-1, 6-1 to pick up the first singles point for the Wave on court six. For Ong, it was her last Bronco match at Degheri Tennis Center. Ong and fellow senior
Zeina El Tawil were each recognized prior to the first serve on senior day.
On court five, No. 88 Gulbe took down
Nadine Del Carmen 6-2, 6-0 with the match clincher coming on court two when No. 16 Ashley Lahey beat El Tawil 6-3, 6-2.
All eyes will be on the match between Pacific and San Diego on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT.
